The Proposal
The Proposal is an American romantic comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher. The screenplay was written by Pete Chiarelli and stars Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. The film was released on June 18, 2009 in Australia and June 19 in North America by Touchstone Pictures. Quick summary Margaret Tate is the executive editor-in-chief of a book publishing company, Colden Books. All of her workers, including her assistant Andrew Paxton, hate her. She soon learns that she is going to be deported back to Canada and will no longer work for the publishing company. She quickly tells her bosses she is getting married to her assistant Andrew and after she blackmails him they go to Alaska to tell his parents. Margaret slowly gets close to all of them and remembers what it is like to have a family, on the wedding day she leaves him because she loves him, Gammy fakes a heart attack and Andrew goes to New York to propose to her and marry her for real, and she accepts. Detailed plot Andrew Paxton wakes up, late, scrambles out of bed, buys two coffees, runs to the work but gets bumped into by another employee and gets coffee spilt on his shirt. He asks another employee for their shirt quickly and they give it to him, then Margaret Tate comes in. As she gets further into the building, people instant message each other on the computers saying things like "It is here" and "The witch is on her broomstick". Margaret Tate is the executive editor-in-chief of a book publishing company, Colden Books. All of her workers, including her assistant Andrew Paxton, hate her, and she fires a senior editor, Bob Spaulding because he is unable to get an author named Frank be interviewed by Oprah. After learning she is being deported to Canada, she forces Andrew to marry her, as his future is tied to hers. When the government investigates, Mr. Gilbertson informs them that they will undergo rigorous testing to prove that the marriage is not fraudulent. Andrew grudgingly accepts, under the condition that he is promoted to the position of editor and his manuscript be published. He also forces Margaret to propose nicely to him on her knees in the streets of New York, and to allow him to tell his parents they are getting married. The two are forced to spend the weekend with his parents in Sitka, Alaska in order to sell the lie, where they will be attending the 90th birthday party of Andrew's grandmother (Gammy). Margaret is very unreceptive of Alaska, and is furthermore shocked to learn that Andrew's family owns most of the business in Sitka. They attend a surprise party for them, where Andrew catches up with his ex-girlfriend, Gertrude "Gert" . After he is humiliated by his father, Joe Paxton, Andrew announces that he and Margaret are getting married. They are forced to tell the engagement story and kiss, and do so passionately, showing the first signs of respect for one another. Andrew's parents then show them their room, and Gammy gives them a special blanket (called baby-maker, which they avoid). Andrew and Margaret sleep separately - Andrew on the floor and Margaret in the bed. The next morning, Margaret Tate wakes to hear her phone ringing. After waking Andrew with her loud conversation, she goes outside; the family dog, Kevin, follows her and is swooped up by an eagle. She gets Kevin back, but the eagle instead takes her phone. Grace and Gammy look at her from the house so assume that she is just playing. Andrew, having seen the commotion, informs Margaret that she, his mother Grace and Gammy are going shopping; the shopping actually proves to be a male strip show by Ramone. Margaret talks with Gert about Andrew, who tells her that they dated through college, and when Andrew asked her to elope with him, she didn't want to go from her home, and said no. Margaret comes home and takes a shower, but finds no towels; when she goes to get one, she is stopped by Kevin. Meanwhile, Andrew confronts his father after he apologizes and asks him to take up the family business, telling him he's happy in New York. He goes to the balcony of their room, stripping naked. Margaret, also naked, goes for a towel after distracting Kevin, only to run into Andrew. He sees her tattoo before going to take a shower. That night, Andrew and Margaret tell each other a little about their past, and find out they like the same band. Next morning, Joe and Grace knock at the door with breakfast. Andrew and Margaret hurriedly get into bed and after a few minutes of shuffling to find a suitable position they allow them in. The family suggest they could marry on the upcoming weekend to coincide with gammy's birthday, and they reluctantly accept. Andrew is stressed because the marriage is actually a sham, and Margaret tries to comfort him, finding herself genuinely caring for him. To sort out her emotions, she goes for a bike ride into the woods, where she finds Gammy "giving thanks" to nature. Gammy invites her to join her, and they end up break dancing (Lil Jon & Eastside Boyz : Get Low), while Andrew watches. Andrew takes her into Sitka, and she tries to contact New York after receiving a new phone and going to an internet cafe. However, Gammy and Grace arrive and take Margaret to be fitted into a dress that Gammy's great grandmother made, and a necklace that's been in the Paxton family for generations. Deciding that she can't do this to Andrew, she hijacks a boat and tries to explain, but she falls off after he takes the steering wheel. Andrew goes back for her, and they return to his house. Once there, they find that Joe has contacted Mr. Gilbertson, who asks them again to admit the sham. Andrew vehemently denies. During the wedding ceremony, Margaret decides she cannot do this to Andrew and confesses the business arrangement in front of everyone- including Mr. Gilbertson, who tells her she has twenty four hours to get back to Canada, and thus goes back to New York to pack her things. Gammy fakes a heart attack. Upon doing so, however, Andrew shows up at the office and confesses his love for Margaret in front of the entire office staff, proposing marriage all over again. They go to Mr. Gilbertson once more to get engaged "for real". Cast * Malin Akerman as Gertrude (Gert), Andrew's ex-girlfriend from college. She and Andrew dated through college, but when he asked her to elope with him in New York, Gert refused because of her life in Alaska, as she tells Margaret. She and Andrew clearly still have feelings for each other, but they never act upon them. Gert realizes that Andrew loves Margaret after she confesses to the sham, and convinces him to go after her. * Mary Steenburgen as Grace Paxton, Andrew's mother, who accepts Margaret immediately, taking her on a girls' night out, giving breakfast in bed, etc. She also does not like Andrew and Joe fighting, and commands her husband to set things right, which Andrew and Margaret both overhear part of. She and the others convince Andrew to go after Margaret when she confesses the sham. * Craig T. Nelson as Joe Paxton, Andrew's father who owns the family business that dominates the entire town in Alaska. He wants his son to run the family business when he dies, but Andrew wants to be a writer. Joe brings Mr. Gilbertson in after suspecting the marriage is a sham. He and his son reconcile after Gammy has a heart attack and he realizes that Andrew truly loves Margaret. * Denis O'Hare as Mr. Gilbertson, the INS agent investigating Margaret's case. He believes the marriage is a fake and takes great pleasure in the revelation that it is. However, at the end when Margaret and Andrew actually do get engaged, he seems more supportive as he likely realizes that it is the real thing this time. * Aasif Mandvi as Bob Spaulding, a senior editor at the book company before Tate fired him early in the film for not getting an author known as Frank the Oprah spot. He insults her after she leaves his office. He would have gotten his job back if Tate was deported and told the INS that the marriage was a fake. *Sandra Bullock ... Margaret Tate *Ryan Reynolds ... Andrew Paxton *Mary Steenburgen ... Grace Paxton *Craig T. Nelson ... Joe Paxton *Betty White ... Grandma Annie *Denis O'Hare ... Mr. Gilbertson *Malin Akerman ... Gertrude *Oscar Nuñez ... Ramone *Aasif Mandvi ... Bob Spaulding *Michael Nouri ... Chairman Bergen *Michael Mosley ... Chuck *Dale Place ... Jim McKittrick *Alicia Hunt ... Coffee Barista *Alexis Garcia ... Immigration Clerk (as Alexis R. Garcia) *Kortney Adams ... Colden Books Receptionist *Chris Whitney ... Medivac Pilot Jerrell Lee ... Jordan (as Jerell Lee Wesley) Gregg Edelman ... Lead Counsel Malloy Phyllis Kay ... Mrs. McKittrick Kate Lacey ... Party Guest Gene Fleming ... Store Owner Mary Linda Rapelye ... Executive Secretary Anne Fletcher ... Jill B. Johnson ... Guy in Office Jimmy Flynn ... Candy store boy (uncredited) Sophya Gudelman ... Sitka airline passenger (uncredited) Frankie Imbergamo ... Int. Airline Passenger (uncredited) Dan Marshall ... Lawyer at Publishing Company (uncredited) Darren Ross ... Business man (uncredited) Nicole Salisbury ... Business woman (uncredited) Salvatore Santone ... Kid 1 (uncredited) Stream ... Indian Immigrant at INS office (uncredited) Adam Zalt ... Businessman (uncredited) External links * Official website * Movie's trailers * [http://www.media-magik.com/proposal.html Proposal film trailer] * [http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/proposal The Proposal] at Metacritic * The proposal at IMDb